The Internet has become a mainstream network for communicating not just data, such as email and pictures, but also for providing real-time bi-directional voice communications. Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is an industry standard that has evolved to enable users to place phone calls through the Internet, instead of through the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). A conventional phone or other Consumer Premises Equipment (CPE) may now be connected to the Internet using an interface device that converts analog phone signals to digital signals that can be communicated through the Internet. A phone call may thereby be communicated through the Internet to a VoIP provider, who converts the call back to an analog signal and places the call through the PSTN that is local to the called phone. A user can thereby dial a telephone number in a conventional manner and have the call routed through the Internet, instead of through the PSTN.
It is also known to provide a VoIP terminal as the CPE itself, rather than converting between the VoIP/analog formats. One such VoIP CPE is the Cisco IP Phone 7960, marketed by Cisco Systems, Inc, of San Jose, Calif. These types of CPEs (or phones) may provide some functionality that may not be otherwise provided by PSTN type phones. For example, some VoIP phones support what is sometimes referred to as a “simultaneous ring” function, where phone lines that are “grouped” will all ring in response to an inbound call.